A Common Need
by WritelkeUmeanit
Summary: Snow wants to get to know her daughter, but she feels her only way is to read Emma's file...


Hey there, dearies! Here's a little something I came up with yesterday. Finally putting the words from paper to virtual ink.

To set the scene, this takes place the first night Emma and Snow arrived back from the enchanted forest.

Enjoy!

**A Common Need **

It was the middle of the night. Henry was sound asleep beside Emma, curled up in his own blanket. She looked to the clock. She'd been trying to fall asleep for hours with no luck. She couldn't rest her mind. Thoughts of magic and Cora and fairytales plagued her thoughts, just as they did every day and night while stuck in the Enchanted Forest.

Everything that happened… it was all so much… Emma still had a hard time believe it. She was still processing.

A while longer and Emma had grown tired of starring at the ceiling. She wrapped an afghan around her body and slipped from the bed.

Not wanting to shock her eyes with a bright light, Emma carefully padded across the dark room. She felt around for the coffee table until her fingers found the lamp. She turned the knob and the dim glow was enough for her to see the couch. And the body curled up on it.

"Jeez," Emma murmured in surprise while putting her hand to her fast beating heart.

Mary Margaret stirred. Emma cringed while reaching to turn the lamp off.

"Hey."

"Sorry," Emma apologized. "I didn't know you were here."

"Can't sleep either?" Mary Margaret's groggy voice muttered.

Emma shook her head.

With a soft smile, Mary Margaret moved over.

"Thanks."

Silence filled the room. Emma had planned on putting the television on and letting boring infomercials lull her to sleep. But Mary Margaret broke the quiet before Emma could reach for the remote.

"With everything going on, we never really got to talk."

"It's okay. We really don't need to."

"No," Mary Margaret argued. "So many times when we were stuck over there I want to talk, but something always came up. Now, finally, we're home and things are calm- for the moment, anyway, and I'd really like to talk."

"Can't it wait 'till morning?"

Mary Margaret found her daughter's eyes and said, "Emma, I am so sorry."

"You don't have to-"

"Yes, I do."

Emma was taken back by how firm her voice was.

"I read your file," Mary Margaret admitted. "The longest time you ever spent in any foster home was just over a year... There wasn't one family that wanted to keep you… I can only imagine how you felt growing up… if you knew that your father and I were looking for you-"

"The past is the past. I really don't want to dwell on it."

Mary Margaret shook her head. Tears welled in her eyes as she said, "you were twelve when you told a school counselor that an older boy in the house was touching you."

Emma didn't say anything. She fought hard to keep the memory at bay.

"Did he ever ra-"

"No," Emma interrupted firmly.

"But he tried?"

Emma nodded.

Water drops fell down Mary Margaret's cheeks. "You fought so hard all your life… it was never supposed to be that way."

"You did what you had to do."

"What happened when you told the counselor? There's only bits and pieces from different years in your file."

"It's not important."

"It is to me. Whatever happened to you… it is to me."

With her stare on the coffee table, Emma said, "they called him into the office and he denied everything. They called his parents down and his mom seemed to feel bad for me, but his dad was pissed. That night he said it would be my fault if his son doesn't get a football scholarship. He hit me a few times with his belt and the next day they sent me away."

Mary Margaret couldn't stop the flow of tears.

"You shouldn't have read my file," Emma grumbled.

"It's the only way I have of getting to know you."

Quiet followed. Emma frowned at Mary Margaret's tears. She moved closer to her mother. With hesitation, she put her head on Mary Margaret's shoulder. Without thinking, Mary Margaret put a kiss to Emma's forehead. Then she froze. She was sure Emma would bolt. But no. Emma took a breath as Mary Margaret held hers.

"I'm sorry," Mary Margaret apologized. "I didn't think."

"It's okay," Emma said through a small smile. "This okay? I can move."

"It's more than okay."

Emma smiled a bit further. She let her eyelids fall closed and said, "if everything didn't happen the way it did, I wouldn't have Henry."

Mary Margaret's lips turned to a soft smile. "He's an amazing little boy."

"Not so little," Emma countered through a frown. "Everyday I have to live with the fact that I gave him away. That I never knew him until he was ten. That the evil Queen raised him for a decade… I understand why everything happened the way it did. We were both trying to do what's right for our kid."

Mary Margaret nodded. After a moment she said, "I envy you, Emma."

"Why?"

"Henry is so young. He needs you. He needs a mom. I see the way you are together and I wish you and I had that," she said honestly.

"I have no idea what I'm doing," Emma said while wrapping her arms around her tummy. "I don't know how to be a mom."

"Could've fooled me."

Emma smiled. "I may not need a mom like a five year needs one or even an 11 year old… but I've got one now, and I'm glad I do."

Mary Margaret smiled. "I'm here, Emma. I want to be your mom. I just don't know how."

"Well, I don't know how to be your daughter," Emma said after a yawn. "So we're even."

"Just be you," Mary Margaret said softly.

"Take your own advice."

Mary Margaret spread an easy smile. "I don't think you'll let me tuck you into bed and watch you fall asleep."

"Too tired."

Mary Margaret looked down at Emma. Her daughter's eyes were closed, her breathing getting deeper.

"Goodnight, Emma," Mary Margaret wished before putting her head to the couch and falling asleep not moments later.

_The End_

**Thoughts before you go? Please and thank you!**


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